Den jang jjigae, boh ssam, kahm ja jjigae

Nick and I checked out a Korean restaurant in Irvine yesterday called Kyo Bahn. We went around 3pm but they have lunch specials from 11am-2pm on weekdays which I recommend since it's cheaper. We got the den jang jjigae (soybean paste stew) for free. Since Nick is Korean I get him to speak his native language whenever we go to Korean Restaurants and we seem to get better service whenever he talks and I don't. 0.o Anyways, I have had a better version of this in LA, the one at Kyo Bahn didn't taste fermented enough for me. I like it when it has a really strong taste, here it was more mild.

Den Jang Jjigae

Boh Ssam: you use the pickled lettuce to wrap up the other ingredients. I'm not quite sure what they are but the pork, red vegetables, and the shrimp paste. I didn't use the peppers. But only put a tiny and I mean TINY bit of the shrimp paste on for flavor because that stuff is extremely salty! Then wrap it all up and stuff it in your mouth. This was my favorite dish from the restaurant. All the flavors blend really nicely. I think I would just order this next time because we had way too much food for two people. We were stuffed.

Boh Ssam

Kahm Ja Jjigae: this is pork stew I think. There are pieces of pork meat and on the bottom are potatoes. I am not a fan of potatoes. I only had a bite and gave the rest to Nick. But I thought this dish was just okay. I've never had it before anywhere else and everyone was raving about it on yelp that I just had to try. Overall it was just okay though, needed stronger flavor in my opinion. It was hard to mix in the spices on the top. The meat was nice and tender though.

Kahm Ja Jjigae